Education

"Mommy, Daddy, why do I have to learn this stuff? What's it got to do with my life? Nothing!"

Parents who have ever had to answer a question like that from their children must be scratching their heads over Gov. Jeb Bush's latest "reform" proposal, which is so stunningly off-base that it might make some people wonder whether the "education governor" understands education at all.

Bush wants the state's public schools to become more career-oriented and "relevant." To that end, he wants to stop making fine arts and physical education required courses for high school graduation. He even wants to make middle school students -- 12-year-olds -- choose a major, as if they were heading straight from the eighth grade to college.

Education is much more than simply preparing for a career. As for eliminating the fine arts requirement, perhaps the governor hasn't seen the studies linking arts education with higher test scores in academic core subjects. True, it's critical to stress basic academics in the lower grades, but in middle and high school, the arts help create well-rounded, well-educated young people.

Perhaps Bush also hasn't noticed the growing problem of obesity. Either that or he's trying to make it worse by making physical education "irrelevant."

What's most offensive about the governor's plan, which is being pushed in the House by state Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah, is the degree to which Bush wants to usurp local control of the public schools. Arza's bill would even allow the governor to take direct control of chronically failing schools.

The last thing local school districts need is for the governor to pull the educational strings from Tallahassee. And the last thing education needs is Bush's misguided idea of relevancy.

BOTTOM LINE: The emphasis on relevancy is misplaced, and the plan would give Bush too much power over local schools.